From Bond to Brasco, our love affair with undercover agents in Hollywood has stood the test of time.
In his latest film, Bastille Day, Idris Elba plays a field agent who must team up with a criminal to help solve a large-scale conspiracy. To celebrate the film’s release, in UK cinemas April 22, we take a look at our favourite undercover agents in film.
Sean Briar – Bastille Day (2016)
Whether he’s playing a murder detective or an anti-apartheid revolutionary, Idris Elba can do no wrong. In his latest film, high-octane action thriller Bastille Day we see him partnering up with Game of Thrones’ Richard Madden for a hugely entertaining game of cat and mouse. Michael Mason (Richard Madden) is an American pickpocket living in Paris who finds himself hunted by the CIA when he steals a bag that contains more than just a wallet. Sean Briar (Idris Elba), the field agent on the case, soon realizes that Michael is just a pawn in a much bigger game and is also his best asset to uncover the large-scale conspiracy. Going against commands, Briar recruits Michael to use his expert pickpocketing skills to help quickly track down the source of the corruption. As a 24hr thrill ride ensues, the unlikely duo discover they are both targets and must rely upon each other in order to take down a common enemy.
Jason Bourne – The Bourne films (2002-2016)
With Matt Damon in the leading role, it’s no surprise that the Bourne films have been such a critical and commercial success. Since the release of The Bourne Identity back in 2002 audiences have been gripped to find out the fate of Jason Bourne, a CIA assassin suffering from extreme memory loss who must figure out who he is. Created by author Robert Ludlum, we are introduced to a new character in The Bourne Legacy (2012) in the form of Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), a Department of Defence operative who must run for his life because of Bourne’s actions in Ultimatum (2007). All three of Ludlum’s novels were adapted for the big screen and featured Matt Damon. Damon chose not to return for the fourth film, where his character Bourne does not appear. Damon has however confirmed that he will be returning for the fifth instalment Jason Bourne which is due for release in July 2016.
James Bond (1962-2015)
The name’s Bond, James Bond! Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan and Craig; only six actors in the world have to date been lucky enough to play the most famous undercover agent in the world. With films spanning from 1962 right through to 2015 when the record breaking Spectre hit our screens, there have been a total of 24 Bond films, making the franchise the longest continually running and third highest-grossing film series to date behind Harry Potter and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Bond originally came from the brain of author Ian Fleming who created the fictional British Secret Service agent back in 1953 – he featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Following his death in 1964, eight authors have authorised Bond novels or novelizations. With Daniel Craig recently publicly stating that he would step down from the franchise if he felt he would be too old or physically unable to play the character again, there has been much deliberation about who would take on the infamous role. Early frontrunners include Idris Elba, Tom Hiddleston and Tom Hardy.
Austin Powers – International Man of Mystery, The Spy Who Shagged Me and Goldmember (1997-2002)
The Austin Powers films take a more comedic look at the spy culture with Mike Myers at the helm, created as a parody of James Bond, and influenced by Harry Palmer and the characters played by Peter Sellers. Sir Augustine Danger or Austin Powers as he is more affectionately known is a womanizing, party-loving British spy embodying the swinging 1960s culture with his nemesis Dr. Evil, also played by Mike Myers. Throughout the three films in the franchise we are introduced to a number of laugh out loud characters and storylines with appearances from the likes of Beyoncé, Elizabeth Hurley and Michael Caine. The films were hugely popular and resulted in the Austin Powers character becoming a British Institution; he has starred in music videos alongside Beyoncé, Madonna and Britney Spears, TV commercials for Pepsi Cola and in 2010 he was voted number 23 in Entertainment Weekly’s list of ‘The 100 greatest characters of the last 20 years.’
Kay and Jay – Men in Black, Men in Black II and Men in Black 3 (1997-2012)
Based on the Malibu/Marvel comic book series The Men in Black and starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, the Men in Black franchise spawned three hugely popular films following the exploits of Agent J and K, members of a top-secret organisation established to monitor and police alien activity on Earth. The first film was released back in 1997 and was an instant success. Men in Black won the Academy Award for Best Makeup and was also nominated for a further two Academy Awards and a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Following the film’s release, RayBan also stated that sales of their Predator 2 sunglasses which were worn by the organisation to deflect neuralyzers tripled to $5million.
Donnie Brasco – Donnie Brasco (1997)
Donnie Brasco is an Academy Award nominated film based on the true story of Joseph D. Pistone (Johnny Depp), an undercover FBI agent who infiltrated the Mafia Bonanno crime family in 1970s New York, under the alias Donnie Brasco, aka “The Jewel Man”. The film is directed by Mike Newell and also stars Al Pacino, Michael Madsen, Bruno Kirby and James Russo. With a budget of just $35m the film was an instant box office success, earning $124.9m. To fully immerse in the character and prepare for his role, Johnny Depp met with the actual Joseph D. Pistone on several occasions, he also took shooting lessons from the FBI.
Ethan Hunt – The Mission Impossible films (1996-2015)
No list of undercover agents would be complete without Ethan Hunt, the protagonist of the five Mission Impossible films produced by and starring none other than Tom Cruise. Based on the television series of the same name, the film franchise is the 18th highest-grossing film series of all time with over $2 billion worth of worldwide gross. The films follow the missions of the Impossible Missions Force’s main field team under the guidance of Hunt, who is forced to take over after the team is betrayed from within the first film. The films very much focus on Hunt as the lead character as opposed to the ensemble cast structure of the television series. The first film hit our screens back in 1996 and was an instant hit, the latest in the franchise came in 2015. There has been much talk of a sixth Mission Impossible offering with Cruise confirming that it is being developed and will, it is hoped, begin production in 2016.
Bastille Day will be released in UK cinemas April 22.
